Cryogenic Engine Undergoes
Endurance Test

The firing in progress

The indigenous Cryogenic Engine for Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle, GSLV, crossed an important landmark on December 5, 2003, when it successfully underwent an endurance test for more than 16 minutes at ISRO's Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) at Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu. The test involved the firing of the Cryogenic main Engine with 7.1 tonne thrust for 1,000 seconds, simultaneously with two 200 kg thrust Cryogenic Steering Engines, all mounted on a single block as used in the actual GSLV flight stage developing 7.5 tonne total thrust. The steering engines are used to control the flight path of GSLV during the third stage thrusting.

The turbo-pump fed, regeneratively cooled engine for the cryogenic stage is required to burn for a duration of 720 seconds in actual flight. The latest test marks the conclusion of the qualification of the cryogenic engine, which has undergone accumulated 6,000 seconds testing so far in three hardware.

The development of the cryogenic stage system is also progressing well at LPSC, Thiruvananthapuram. This cryogenic stage, using a combination of two tonne liquid hydrogen and 11 tonne liquid oxygen, is intended to replace the Russian supplied cryogenic stage in GSLV.